TOM / LA / VR
TOM / LA / VR
A virtual journey through utopian faglands
This piece is funded by Daffy London, to support the Tom of Finland Foundation a charity hellBENT on keeping
Toms name alive, his message clear, letting artists thrive, counsilling all-a-queer.
VR exclusive TEST #1.2 in FULL STEREO VR at SHOWstudio, London. Updated weekly.
360 version below of TEST #1.1 shown at launch. Updated fortnightly.
TOM / LA / VR
2014 - EARLY BEGINNINGS
After two decades of obsession over Tom of Finlands drawings, I was keen to see how the characters on paper might adapt to three dimensions. Digital artist Kwok Law and I set about experimenting with LOGGER. A drawing that's always had a hold over me.
TOM / LA / VR
2014 - FIRST NOTE
Playing around with rendering methods in a stoned haze one night I was struck by the grandeur of the pose.
It led to me writing a note to myself which I'd now consider one of my most important.
TOM / LA / VR
2014 - VR ROUTE
With a big statue in mind, plus my love of Los Angeles (at the time) I drew a line on a map between the Hollywood Sign and Tom House in Silverlake and miracles happened. It plotted right through Griffith Observatory, and continued, it interesected the Dodgers Stadium.
TOM / LA / VR
2014 - FIRST CAMERA TEST
This video shows a basic mapping out of a camera flying over a 2D map. Starting behind the Hollywood Sign and over to Silverlake
password : mrglasssosorry
TOM / LA / VR
2014 - 360 PREMISE
VR is to film as Immersive theatre is to traditional theatre. We can define an audience interaction differently. Using the 360 of an enviroment is woefully undersused in VR, and I embraced it fully for my project with Marvel / Samsung / Framestore Battle for Avengers Tower
In this project I use VR to define levels of comfortabilty with the subject matter. Kinky situations can be viewed to the sides, the filth is always behind us. Keep looking straight? Your mum could watch it and enjoy a ride over LA.
Tom of Finlands legacy was carved out at 1427 Laveta Terrace, Silverlake, Los Angeles. The house lives on as the Tom of Finland Foundation. Supporting Queer artists since its inception. My full VR experience places the house at the heart, taking viewers on a journey from the cottaging going on behind the Hollywood Sign, over the house in Silverlake onto the freeway via Toms bike through the limo's over the trucks, fucking everywhere through a stroby tunnel of love, then off towards the antics of DTLA.
In VR the location of the iconic houses will be marked via a monumental 600 Metre nude statue which straddles the house and towers above LA. You the VR user are passenger in a helicopter sat next to a Toms Men pilot. And ever flying towards the LOGGER. We ask for donations upfront. All sent to the Foundation.
Ultimately this will become a real (liminal) life A.R. beacon available on phones, which means anyone in the area can navigate to the house by seeking out the statue. Anywhere in the world in fact.
TOM / LA / VR
SEPTEMBER - NOVEMBER 2024 - TEST #1
SHOWstudio - SHADOWBAN
The next phase of a Tom of Finland VR Experience
by Daffy London
TEST #1, will be a work in progress artpiece starting at SHOWstudio. In which the statue will be presented in VR at the ‘SHADOWBAN’ exhibit in its most primitive digital form. It will become more hyper real on a weekly basis. Till I say STOP!
TOM / LA / VR - CHAPTER 1 - TEST #1 - WEEK #1
Wednesday 25th September 2024
TEST #1.1 available online!
WEEK #1 LINK TO YOUTUBE
Launched 3:33pm Wednesday 25 September
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AZHnBQ23MRc
Daffy London "Thank you to everyone who's taken part in viewing my experience test #1. You saw this at its worse yet it still cracked smiles and roused loins. Your insights have truly pushed me to deliver my next version with gusto."
TOM / LA / VR - CHAPTER 1 - TEST #1 - WEEK #2
Wednesday 25th September 2024
NOTES FOR TEST #1.2 AND BEYOND
test 1.2
- Heli blades - DONE
- Better versioning updates - DONE
- Heli sounds - DONE
test 1.3
- credits
- Add LLEWELLYN MNGUNI (INSTA) as dancer on shoulder
- Add mirror ball / you as PEKKA test of lightbeams hitting ball
- Better LA detail
- More realistic Laveta Terrace
- A fan and dildo for haptics
- Holo touch swipe for audio
- Longer GIFBOX.TV porn GIFs
- Better Helicopter details
- Hand animation jerking yourself off
- New TOFF heli driver model - White leather as per concept modernisation
- Better sculpture (revert head) more detail, better tarnish with shiny flashes (glitter effect)
- fade off light beams, more contrast during lit spill
- tilted helicopter reveals two Toms 69ing on Heli rope ladder
CREDITS
Director - Daffy London
Creative - n/a
Digital Artist - Kwok Law
Docent - Adam Reid
Thanks - The Arroyos
Partner - Tom of Finland Foundation
Exhibitors - SHOWstudio